Harlem,New York
By David Samuels
On June 27,2009 the people of Harlem will be having a neighbor to neighbor discussion on President Obama's Healthcare Proposals. Many of them sent E-mails to the President asking to be volunteers in their neighborhoods.
On wednesday evening at 11:35 pm ABC broadcast a one hour special called Questions For The President : Prescription For America. A taped Forum at the White House dealing with President Obama's efforts to reform healthcare in the United States.
Prior to the broadcast, ABC World News reported on a new ABCNews/Washington Post poll showing "that 62 percent of Americans favor the creation of a government health insurance program . But that support drops to 37 percent if such a government plan might mean private insurers cannot compete. "
Most of my neighbors List Three Core Principles: (1) Reduce rising healthcare costs (2) guarantee choice in keeping or finding a new doctor. (3)Ensure affordable healthcare to all.
Visit a Healthcare Reform Session
Date and Time: Saturday June 27,2009 --Time 11 am to 3pm
Location: 429 west 127th street. New York , N.Y. 10027
Sponsored By: African Services Committee.
More Information: Phone --1-212-222-3882-----Between Amsterdam and Morningside Aves.
For canvassing, phone banking,Free Medical Testing.
See---http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Summer Gives No Relief From Swine Flu
CDC Says Northeastern States Have the Most Cases of H1N1 Swine Flu
By Emma Hitt, PhDWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
June 18, 2009 -- About 7% of the population in areas highly affected by H1N1 swine flu report influenza-like symptoms, a spokesperson for the CDC said during a news briefing today.
Daniel Jernigan, MD, MPH, deputy director of the Influenza Division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, provided an update about the H1N1 pandemic, stating that the U.S. will likely continue to have flu activity through this summer and probably until the start of the fall flu season.
Jernigan said about 89% of flu cases confirmed by the CDC are of the H1N1 strain. The number of cases varies significantly from region to region, with Northeastern states continuing to see the highest numbers, especially New York and Massachusetts.
The number of lab-confirmed cases in the U.S. is now estimated at more than 17,800, which includes about 1,600 hospitalizations and 44 deaths.
"These numbers are likely an underestimate of the number of cases that are out there," Jernigan said. "The amount of disease in the areas that are having activity with H1N1 is perhaps around 7% of the population reporting symptoms due to influenza-like illness."
Antivirals -- such as Tamiflu and Relenza -- still appear to be effective against H1N1. "We are recommending that [antivirals] be used in high-risk patients that are sick and also in those that are being hospitalized," he said.
He added that asthma, diabetes and heart disease are the most predominant underlying conditions in hospitalized patients.
"About 40% or so [of hospitalized patients] have some kind of underlying disease," Jernigan said during the call. "The most predominant [underlying condition] is asthma, [with] the second being diabetes." He added that immunocompromised status -- either through cancer chemotherapy or immunocompromising conditions -- is present in about 13% of the patients, as is chronic underlying heart disease.
Swine Flu Among Health Care Providers
Officials also discussed H1N1 infection among health care personnel. Michael Bell, MD, associate director for infection control in the Division of Healthcare and Quality Promotion of the CDC's National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases, discussed a report in the June 19 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The report, which describes swine flu cases among health care workers through May 13, includes detailed information for about 26 patients. None of the patients with the H1N1 swine flu virus died or required intensive care during hospitalization, Bell said. Half of them had exposure within the general community or from unknown causes, and the remaining half probably contracted the disease within the health care setting.
According to the report, "most of the probable or possible patient-to-[health care provider] transmissions ... occurred in situations where the use of [personal protective equipment] was not in accordance with CDC recommendations."
By Emma Hitt, PhDWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
June 18, 2009 -- About 7% of the population in areas highly affected by H1N1 swine flu report influenza-like symptoms, a spokesperson for the CDC said during a news briefing today.
Daniel Jernigan, MD, MPH, deputy director of the Influenza Division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, provided an update about the H1N1 pandemic, stating that the U.S. will likely continue to have flu activity through this summer and probably until the start of the fall flu season.
Jernigan said about 89% of flu cases confirmed by the CDC are of the H1N1 strain. The number of cases varies significantly from region to region, with Northeastern states continuing to see the highest numbers, especially New York and Massachusetts.
The number of lab-confirmed cases in the U.S. is now estimated at more than 17,800, which includes about 1,600 hospitalizations and 44 deaths.
"These numbers are likely an underestimate of the number of cases that are out there," Jernigan said. "The amount of disease in the areas that are having activity with H1N1 is perhaps around 7% of the population reporting symptoms due to influenza-like illness."
Antivirals -- such as Tamiflu and Relenza -- still appear to be effective against H1N1. "We are recommending that [antivirals] be used in high-risk patients that are sick and also in those that are being hospitalized," he said.
He added that asthma, diabetes and heart disease are the most predominant underlying conditions in hospitalized patients.
"About 40% or so [of hospitalized patients] have some kind of underlying disease," Jernigan said during the call. "The most predominant [underlying condition] is asthma, [with] the second being diabetes." He added that immunocompromised status -- either through cancer chemotherapy or immunocompromising conditions -- is present in about 13% of the patients, as is chronic underlying heart disease.
Swine Flu Among Health Care Providers
Officials also discussed H1N1 infection among health care personnel. Michael Bell, MD, associate director for infection control in the Division of Healthcare and Quality Promotion of the CDC's National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases, discussed a report in the June 19 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The report, which describes swine flu cases among health care workers through May 13, includes detailed information for about 26 patients. None of the patients with the H1N1 swine flu virus died or required intensive care during hospitalization, Bell said. Half of them had exposure within the general community or from unknown causes, and the remaining half probably contracted the disease within the health care setting.
According to the report, "most of the probable or possible patient-to-[health care provider] transmissions ... occurred in situations where the use of [personal protective equipment] was not in accordance with CDC recommendations."
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Something’s Got to Give in Medicare Spending
By TYLER COWEN
Published: June 13, 2009
MEDICARE expenditures threaten to crush the federal budget, yet the Obama administration is proposing that we start by spending more now so we can spend less later.
This runs the risk of becoming the new voodoo economics. If we can’t realize significant savings in health care costs now, don’t expect savings in the future, either.
It’s not the profits of the drug companies or the overhead of the insurance companies that make American health care so expensive, but the financial incentives for doctors and medical institutions to recommend more procedures, whether or not they are effective. So far, the American people have been unwilling to say no.
Drawing upon the ideas of the Harvard economist David Cutler, the Obama administration talks of empowering an independent board of experts to judge the comparative effectiveness of health care expenditures; the goal is to limit or withdraw Medicare support for ineffective ones. This idea is long overdue, and the critics who contend that it amounts to “rationing” or “the government telling you which medical treatments you can have” are missing the point. The motivating idea is the old conservative chestnut that not every private-sector expenditure deserves a government subsidy.
Nonetheless, this principle is radical in its implications and has met with resistance. In particular, Congress has not been willing to give up its power over what is perhaps the government’s single most important program, nor should we expect such a surrender of power in the future. There is already a Medicare Advisory Payment Commission, but it isn’t allowed to actually cut costs.
Scholars have been applying comparative-effectiveness research to Medicare for years, and the verdict is not altogether pretty. It turns out that some regions spend more on Medicare than others — sometimes two or three times as much, as documented by the Dartmouth Atlas Project. Yet the higher-spending regions often fail to produce superior health care results.
Robin Hanson, professor of economics at George Mason University, surveys evidence demonstrating the ineffectiveness of many medical expenditures in his 2007 paper, “Showing That You Care.”
If we are willing to take comparative-effectiveness studies seriously, we could make significant cuts in Medicare costs right now. We could cut some reimbursement rates, limit coverage for some of the more speculative treatments, like some forms of knee and back surgery, and place more limits on end-of-life-care.
Those cuts alone will not solve the fiscal problem, but if we aren’t willing to take even limited steps to conserve resources, we shouldn’t be spending any more money elsewhere.
Of course, we have not made such Medicare spending cuts yet, and there are few signs that we will. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 67 percent of Americans believe that they do not receive enough treatment and that only 16 percent believe that they have received unnecessary care. If the Obama administration covers more people with government-supplied or government-subsidized insurance, the political support will broaden for generous benefits, their continuation and, indeed, expansion of current expenditures.
Suggested ways to lower costs include an emphasis on preventive care, the use of electronic medical records and increased competition among insurers. But even if these are likely to improve the quality of care, they are speculative and uncertain as cost-saving measures. Keep in mind that while computers were remarkably powerful inventions, it took decades before they showed up in the statistics as having improved productivity in the workplace.
One idea embodied in a bill sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Senator Robert F. Bennett, Republican of Utah, is to finance new health care programs by taxing health insurance benefits. This makes sense in principle: why should insurance benefits be favored over salary by our tax system? But employer-supplied insurance is a mainstay of the current health care system, and there is no adequate replacement immediately in sight.
IT’S also hard to convince the American public that the solution to insufficient health insurance is to tax health insurance. And such a one-time tax increase would postpone but not eliminate the need to come to grips with ever-rising Medicare costs.
It sounds harsh to suggest that the Obama administration cut areas of Medicare spending, but, too often, increased expenditures and coverage are confused with good health care outcomes. The reality is that our daily environment, our social status and our behavior — including diet and exercise — have more to do with good health than does health care more narrowly defined.
The demand for universal coverage sounds like a moral imperative to “take care of everybody,” but in reality it would make only a marginal difference when it comes to the overall health of the American population. The sober reality is that universal coverage is another way to spend money, which may or may not be a good idea.
The most likely possibility is that the government will spend more on health care today, promise to realize savings tomorrow and never succeed in lowering costs. It is rare that governments successfully cut costs by first spending more money.
Mr. Obama has pledged to be a fiscally responsible president. This is the biggest chance so far to see whether he means it.
See---http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Published: June 13, 2009
MEDICARE expenditures threaten to crush the federal budget, yet the Obama administration is proposing that we start by spending more now so we can spend less later.
This runs the risk of becoming the new voodoo economics. If we can’t realize significant savings in health care costs now, don’t expect savings in the future, either.
It’s not the profits of the drug companies or the overhead of the insurance companies that make American health care so expensive, but the financial incentives for doctors and medical institutions to recommend more procedures, whether or not they are effective. So far, the American people have been unwilling to say no.
Drawing upon the ideas of the Harvard economist David Cutler, the Obama administration talks of empowering an independent board of experts to judge the comparative effectiveness of health care expenditures; the goal is to limit or withdraw Medicare support for ineffective ones. This idea is long overdue, and the critics who contend that it amounts to “rationing” or “the government telling you which medical treatments you can have” are missing the point. The motivating idea is the old conservative chestnut that not every private-sector expenditure deserves a government subsidy.
Nonetheless, this principle is radical in its implications and has met with resistance. In particular, Congress has not been willing to give up its power over what is perhaps the government’s single most important program, nor should we expect such a surrender of power in the future. There is already a Medicare Advisory Payment Commission, but it isn’t allowed to actually cut costs.
Scholars have been applying comparative-effectiveness research to Medicare for years, and the verdict is not altogether pretty. It turns out that some regions spend more on Medicare than others — sometimes two or three times as much, as documented by the Dartmouth Atlas Project. Yet the higher-spending regions often fail to produce superior health care results.
Robin Hanson, professor of economics at George Mason University, surveys evidence demonstrating the ineffectiveness of many medical expenditures in his 2007 paper, “Showing That You Care.”
If we are willing to take comparative-effectiveness studies seriously, we could make significant cuts in Medicare costs right now. We could cut some reimbursement rates, limit coverage for some of the more speculative treatments, like some forms of knee and back surgery, and place more limits on end-of-life-care.
Those cuts alone will not solve the fiscal problem, but if we aren’t willing to take even limited steps to conserve resources, we shouldn’t be spending any more money elsewhere.
Of course, we have not made such Medicare spending cuts yet, and there are few signs that we will. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 67 percent of Americans believe that they do not receive enough treatment and that only 16 percent believe that they have received unnecessary care. If the Obama administration covers more people with government-supplied or government-subsidized insurance, the political support will broaden for generous benefits, their continuation and, indeed, expansion of current expenditures.
Suggested ways to lower costs include an emphasis on preventive care, the use of electronic medical records and increased competition among insurers. But even if these are likely to improve the quality of care, they are speculative and uncertain as cost-saving measures. Keep in mind that while computers were remarkably powerful inventions, it took decades before they showed up in the statistics as having improved productivity in the workplace.
One idea embodied in a bill sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Senator Robert F. Bennett, Republican of Utah, is to finance new health care programs by taxing health insurance benefits. This makes sense in principle: why should insurance benefits be favored over salary by our tax system? But employer-supplied insurance is a mainstay of the current health care system, and there is no adequate replacement immediately in sight.
IT’S also hard to convince the American public that the solution to insufficient health insurance is to tax health insurance. And such a one-time tax increase would postpone but not eliminate the need to come to grips with ever-rising Medicare costs.
It sounds harsh to suggest that the Obama administration cut areas of Medicare spending, but, too often, increased expenditures and coverage are confused with good health care outcomes. The reality is that our daily environment, our social status and our behavior — including diet and exercise — have more to do with good health than does health care more narrowly defined.
The demand for universal coverage sounds like a moral imperative to “take care of everybody,” but in reality it would make only a marginal difference when it comes to the overall health of the American population. The sober reality is that universal coverage is another way to spend money, which may or may not be a good idea.
The most likely possibility is that the government will spend more on health care today, promise to realize savings tomorrow and never succeed in lowering costs. It is rare that governments successfully cut costs by first spending more money.
Mr. Obama has pledged to be a fiscally responsible president. This is the biggest chance so far to see whether he means it.
See---http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Monday, June 8, 2009
Apple halves iPhone to $99 to galvanize sales
Mon Jun 8, 2009 6:39pm EDT
By Alexei Oreskovic and David Lawsky
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc halved the price of its entry-level iPhone to $99 on Monday in a move that could widen the trendy device's mass-market appeal as competition for smartphones heats up.
The company also unveiled a new iPhone that takes videos and has voice features, matching offerings by rivals Palm and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
Analysts said sales could double for the lower-priced iPhone.
Chief Executive Steve Jobs, on medical leave since January, did not put in a much speculated-about appearance.
The next-generation iPhone 3GS -- the "S" stands for speed, double that of the original model -- goes on sale in the United States, Germany and other countries on June 19 for $199 to $299.
"They plugged the hole in the offering of the 3G iPhone," Gartner analyst Van Baker said, referring to the new features.
A lively crowd convened at the event in downtown San Francisco, whooping and applauding throughout the conference as Apple executives unveiled everything from a much-cheaper Mac Air notebook to fresh operating system software.
Shares in Apple closed 0.6 percent down at $143.85 -- after a 6.5 percent climb in the week leading up to the highly anticipated event -- as Jobs failed to show and investors debated the merits of the sharp iPhone price cut.
Morgan Stanley estimates that an entry-level iPhone at what Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller calls a "breakthrough price of $99" could double existing sales. That is the 8-gigabyte model previously priced at $199.
AT&T, the exclusive U.S. service provider for the iPhone, will sell the 16-gigabyte 3G for $149, down from $299, while supplies last.
Apple's announcement came days after Palm launched its "Pre" smartphone, which some analysts say is the iPhone's closest competitor for the consumer market.
"Apple's strategy appears to be designed to take advantage of the current limited availability of the Palm Pre," CL King & Associates analyst Lawrence Harris wrote. "It is clear that Apple intends to maintain its leadership position in the smartphone market, given its decision to cut prices."
By Alexei Oreskovic and David Lawsky
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc halved the price of its entry-level iPhone to $99 on Monday in a move that could widen the trendy device's mass-market appeal as competition for smartphones heats up.
The company also unveiled a new iPhone that takes videos and has voice features, matching offerings by rivals Palm and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
Analysts said sales could double for the lower-priced iPhone.
Chief Executive Steve Jobs, on medical leave since January, did not put in a much speculated-about appearance.
The next-generation iPhone 3GS -- the "S" stands for speed, double that of the original model -- goes on sale in the United States, Germany and other countries on June 19 for $199 to $299.
"They plugged the hole in the offering of the 3G iPhone," Gartner analyst Van Baker said, referring to the new features.
A lively crowd convened at the event in downtown San Francisco, whooping and applauding throughout the conference as Apple executives unveiled everything from a much-cheaper Mac Air notebook to fresh operating system software.
Shares in Apple closed 0.6 percent down at $143.85 -- after a 6.5 percent climb in the week leading up to the highly anticipated event -- as Jobs failed to show and investors debated the merits of the sharp iPhone price cut.
Morgan Stanley estimates that an entry-level iPhone at what Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller calls a "breakthrough price of $99" could double existing sales. That is the 8-gigabyte model previously priced at $199.
AT&T, the exclusive U.S. service provider for the iPhone, will sell the 16-gigabyte 3G for $149, down from $299, while supplies last.
Apple's announcement came days after Palm launched its "Pre" smartphone, which some analysts say is the iPhone's closest competitor for the consumer market.
"Apple's strategy appears to be designed to take advantage of the current limited availability of the Palm Pre," CL King & Associates analyst Lawrence Harris wrote. "It is clear that Apple intends to maintain its leadership position in the smartphone market, given its decision to cut prices."
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Message on Obama Attributed to Bin Laden
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Published: June 3, 2009
CAIRO — Just as President Obama arrived in the Middle East, the Al Jazeera television news broadcast an audiotape on Wednesday that it said was Osama bin Laden condemning Mr. Obama for planting new seeds of “hatred and vengeance toward Americans.”
The message focused on President Obama’s decision to step up pressure on extremists in Pakistan. The speaker specifically blamed the president for the Pakistani military’s drive to retake an area in the Swat Valley that had recently come under the control of Taliban forces. He blamed Mr. Obama for the “one million Muslims” who have had to flee their homes because of the fighting. United Nations and Pakistani officials estimate that as many as three million people have been displaced by the conflict. “Obama has followed the footsteps of his predecessor in increasing animosity towards Muslims and increasing enemy fighters and establishing long-term wars,” the recording said. “So the American people should get ready to reap the fruits of what the leaders of the White House have planted throughout the coming years and decades.”
The recording, if verified, is a signal that Mr. bin Laden, the fugitive leader of Al Qaeda, remains alive and in touch with current events, and that he retains effective channels of communication with the outside world. The message was released one day after Mr. bin Laden’s lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, issued his own audiotape condemning the president.
Many groups with a stake in the future of the Middle East and in relations between the Muslim community and the United States are attempting to ride the wave of attention to the president’s visit. Human rights groups, democracy advocates, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups have all tried to force their agendas to the forefront as the president passes through.
Al Qaeda, however, easily rose to the top of the local news cycle here — especially with what seems to be the recorded voice of Mr. bin Laden, who continues to capture the imagination of those who revile him as well as those who see him as an outlaw hero. It appeared to be the first recording attributed to the Al Qaeda leader since January, when Al Jazeera aired an audio message attributed to him during the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the last days of former President George W. Bush s term.
“He is of course asserting his ability to be a part of daily political events,” said Amr el-Shobaky, an expert on Islamic movements with the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a government funded research institute here. “He is twisting reality and blaming this new administration for things it is not responsible for so that the new administration would look as extreme and no different from the previous Bush administration.”
The recording released Wednesday said that the Pakistani authorities were doing Washington’s bidding when they prevented “implementing Sharia law by fighting and killing and through bombings and destruction.”
The recording continued: “Obama and his administration have planted new seeds to increase hatred and revenge from America. The number of those seeds is the same as the number of those harmed and displaced from Swat Valley and the tribal regions in North and South Waziristan and the number of their sympathizers.”
This is not the first time Al Qaeda has attacked Mr. Obama. In a blunt personal attack on the incoming president in November, Mr. Zawahri painted Mr. Obama as a hypocrite and a traitor to his race, comparing him unfavorably with ”honorable black Americans” like Malcolm X, the 1960s black Muslim leader, and referring to him as a “house Negro,” using a direct translation of a term Malcolm X himself used.
The latest recording and the attention it provoked served as a reminder of what is at stake as the president tries to recalibrate America’s image throughout the Muslim world. This trip, and the speech he is scheduled to give in Cairo tomorrow, are part of a broad diplomatic push that has included a speech in Turkey, an appearance on an Arabic language satellite news channel and a video message sent to Iran during Persian New Year celebrations.
“This is an important indicator as to how much we need this new administration to exert more effort in marginalizing Osama Bin Laden’s discourse so that he is not able to exploit popular causes towards violence,” Mr. Shobaky said.
The president faces a challenge as he tries appear sensitive to the Islamic world, respectful of the region’s leaders, and yet not appear to turn a blind eye to the human rights violations and autocratic practices the constrain the lives of average people. That is one area that Al Qaeda continues to try to exploit.
“If Obama comes to Egypt he will be received by its torturers, its thieves, and its corrupt who turned Egypt into an international station of torture in America’s war against Islam,” Mr. Zawahri said.
The president plans to spend the night in Riyadh, the Saudi capital and is scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Thursday morning. His speech is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. local time (6:10 a.m. Eastern time).
Published: June 3, 2009
CAIRO — Just as President Obama arrived in the Middle East, the Al Jazeera television news broadcast an audiotape on Wednesday that it said was Osama bin Laden condemning Mr. Obama for planting new seeds of “hatred and vengeance toward Americans.”
The message focused on President Obama’s decision to step up pressure on extremists in Pakistan. The speaker specifically blamed the president for the Pakistani military’s drive to retake an area in the Swat Valley that had recently come under the control of Taliban forces. He blamed Mr. Obama for the “one million Muslims” who have had to flee their homes because of the fighting. United Nations and Pakistani officials estimate that as many as three million people have been displaced by the conflict. “Obama has followed the footsteps of his predecessor in increasing animosity towards Muslims and increasing enemy fighters and establishing long-term wars,” the recording said. “So the American people should get ready to reap the fruits of what the leaders of the White House have planted throughout the coming years and decades.”
The recording, if verified, is a signal that Mr. bin Laden, the fugitive leader of Al Qaeda, remains alive and in touch with current events, and that he retains effective channels of communication with the outside world. The message was released one day after Mr. bin Laden’s lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, issued his own audiotape condemning the president.
Many groups with a stake in the future of the Middle East and in relations between the Muslim community and the United States are attempting to ride the wave of attention to the president’s visit. Human rights groups, democracy advocates, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups have all tried to force their agendas to the forefront as the president passes through.
Al Qaeda, however, easily rose to the top of the local news cycle here — especially with what seems to be the recorded voice of Mr. bin Laden, who continues to capture the imagination of those who revile him as well as those who see him as an outlaw hero. It appeared to be the first recording attributed to the Al Qaeda leader since January, when Al Jazeera aired an audio message attributed to him during the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the last days of former President George W. Bush s term.
“He is of course asserting his ability to be a part of daily political events,” said Amr el-Shobaky, an expert on Islamic movements with the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a government funded research institute here. “He is twisting reality and blaming this new administration for things it is not responsible for so that the new administration would look as extreme and no different from the previous Bush administration.”
The recording released Wednesday said that the Pakistani authorities were doing Washington’s bidding when they prevented “implementing Sharia law by fighting and killing and through bombings and destruction.”
The recording continued: “Obama and his administration have planted new seeds to increase hatred and revenge from America. The number of those seeds is the same as the number of those harmed and displaced from Swat Valley and the tribal regions in North and South Waziristan and the number of their sympathizers.”
This is not the first time Al Qaeda has attacked Mr. Obama. In a blunt personal attack on the incoming president in November, Mr. Zawahri painted Mr. Obama as a hypocrite and a traitor to his race, comparing him unfavorably with ”honorable black Americans” like Malcolm X, the 1960s black Muslim leader, and referring to him as a “house Negro,” using a direct translation of a term Malcolm X himself used.
The latest recording and the attention it provoked served as a reminder of what is at stake as the president tries to recalibrate America’s image throughout the Muslim world. This trip, and the speech he is scheduled to give in Cairo tomorrow, are part of a broad diplomatic push that has included a speech in Turkey, an appearance on an Arabic language satellite news channel and a video message sent to Iran during Persian New Year celebrations.
“This is an important indicator as to how much we need this new administration to exert more effort in marginalizing Osama Bin Laden’s discourse so that he is not able to exploit popular causes towards violence,” Mr. Shobaky said.
The president faces a challenge as he tries appear sensitive to the Islamic world, respectful of the region’s leaders, and yet not appear to turn a blind eye to the human rights violations and autocratic practices the constrain the lives of average people. That is one area that Al Qaeda continues to try to exploit.
“If Obama comes to Egypt he will be received by its torturers, its thieves, and its corrupt who turned Egypt into an international station of torture in America’s war against Islam,” Mr. Zawahri said.
The president plans to spend the night in Riyadh, the Saudi capital and is scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Thursday morning. His speech is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. local time (6:10 a.m. Eastern time).
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